1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to folding tables in general, and specifically to portable tables for use in massage or therapeutic body work such as for the chiropractic art.
2. Related Art
The art teaches a wide variety of special purpose folding tables for use in applications such as massage, therapy, chiropractic arts, article display, and beauty treatment as well as folding tables for general purpose use.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,335,676; 5,009,170 and 4,943,041 disclose varying truss suspension systems for portable tables.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,128 discloses a sliding leg body-work table including a channel system which provides support for the table legs and rotatable diagonal braces which extend from a cross tube for connecting each leg pair to the table surface. A system of wire ropes support the central hinged end of the table top sections and operate in conjunction with diagonal braces for locking of the legs in an operational position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,638 to Gilloti discloses a table with a truss suspension system having legs hinge from the ends of the table and diagonal braces extending from the center of the table to attach onto the table legs. The truss system consists of a cord member of wire rope or flexible material attached to the lower end of the legs and extending the full length of the table parallel to the table surface. Users regard this type of table as unsatisfactory because the position of the cable interferes with the movement of the user and required the user to connect and disconnect the diagonal braces on one or both ends on setting up or collapsing the table.
Another type of folding table is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,729 to Krueger, consisting of a collapsible table with strap-like brace members having folding legs at each end. This type of table does not have a support cable system attached to the legs, nor does it provide a strong working platform, and tends to be noisy when rocking forces are applied thereto. Also this type of table requires some skill and training on the part of its user to set up and collapse, and provides limited means to adjust height dimension of the working surface.